Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Plattsburgh - Columbia Care is seeing slow but steady growth at its medical marijuana dispensary in the City of Plattsburgh.
In response to Press-Republican queries, Columbia Care Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Vita said 65 individual patients have been seen at the Plattsburgh facility since it started to accept prescriptions on Jan. 26.
"We expected a adoption curve associated with physicians embracing the program and patients accepting this as an alternative," he said.
"We have seen consistent growth since we began operations."
MEAGER TAX REVENUE
The excise tax revenue from medical marijuana has been meager thus far for Clinton County.
County Treasurer Kimberly Davis said her office received $3.37 for the first quarter of 2016 and has been told it can expect $203 for the second quarter.
The program calls for a 7 percent excise tax on medical marijuana sales. Of that, 22.5 percent goes to the county where the product is manufactured and 22.5 percent to the county where it is dispensed.
The Plattsburgh dispensary is open two days a week: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays.
"We're not open every day simply because we don't have enough demand," Vita said.
FEWER EMPLOYEE
In January, Vita said they expected to have up to 35 people employed by the end of two years.
There are presently only five, he said.
"We're hoping that number will go up in time. Since we're only open a couple days a week, we've not been able to build out the team the way we normally would have."
In an effort to build business, Columbia Care officials are in the process of participating in education forums with physicians and regional medical centers.
The goal is to ensure that people understand what the program is about and what it can offer in terms of symptom relief for those with one of the qualifying illnesses.
NO DOCTORS LIST
The company's experience in Plattsburgh mirrors that in some other regions of the state.
According to the New York State Department of Health, as of Jan. 21, 265 physicians were certified to prescribe medical marijuana and 295 patients approved to receive it.
Those numbers had increased to 593 doctors and 4,688 patients as of June 9 and to 639 physicians and 5,966 patients as of July 26.
One common complaint identified in a report issued by the New York City-based Drug Policy Alliance in June has been the Health Department's refusal to provide a list of the doctors who can prescribe medical marijuana to those seeking treatment.
At present, only other physicians are able to search the list of providers.
Vita said the state is in a tough position on that issue, as some doctors are comfortable in putting that information out and others are not.
"My suspicion is that, over time, you'll see a very smart solution introduced to address that concern," he said.
WANTS HOME DELIVERY
Vita said another issue that has arisen is bridging the communication gap between primary-care physicians and those approved by the state to prescribe. That process is taking some time to develop.
Even so, Vita said, they've seen more doctors register in the state of New York than, at the same point in time, most of the other states where Columbia Care has a presence.
Those states are Arizona, California, Illinois and Massachusetts, as well as Washington, D.C.
The company has more customers at its other New York dispensaries, but those are in more urban areas: Manhattan, Rochester and Riverhead on Long Island.
At those locations, particularly in Manhattan, patients can walk or take public transportation to the dispensary.
That ties in with another issue identified in the Drug Policy Alliance report. Because only five producers were approved, each with up to four dispensaries, many patients are forced to travel great distances to seek access, especially in rural areas of the state.
Vita said Columbia Care would like to see the state allow home delivery to certified patients. That would really ease access concerns and open the program to people who are homebound or don't have access to transportation," Vita said.
"I think that really becomes relevant in an area like Plattsburgh. I think that would really enhance the access and adoption."
'PREPARED FOR GROWTH'
While Columbia Care is not part of the discussion, Vita believes there are conversations going on at the state level as to changes. If the program is viewed by state officials as a success, which he thinks it should be, the push to expand it will likely increase.
"We built the facility with the expectation that we would have a fairly robust patient population to serve and a fairly robust medical community to serve," Vita said.
"The timelines of when that growth occurs is not as predictable as one might think. We're prepared for that growth, and we look forward to it happening, and invariably we believe that it will."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Business Slowly Growing
Author: Dan Heath
Contact: (518) 561-2300
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Press Republican
In response to Press-Republican queries, Columbia Care Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Vita said 65 individual patients have been seen at the Plattsburgh facility since it started to accept prescriptions on Jan. 26.
"We expected a adoption curve associated with physicians embracing the program and patients accepting this as an alternative," he said.
"We have seen consistent growth since we began operations."
MEAGER TAX REVENUE
The excise tax revenue from medical marijuana has been meager thus far for Clinton County.
County Treasurer Kimberly Davis said her office received $3.37 for the first quarter of 2016 and has been told it can expect $203 for the second quarter.
The program calls for a 7 percent excise tax on medical marijuana sales. Of that, 22.5 percent goes to the county where the product is manufactured and 22.5 percent to the county where it is dispensed.
The Plattsburgh dispensary is open two days a week: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays.
"We're not open every day simply because we don't have enough demand," Vita said.
FEWER EMPLOYEE
In January, Vita said they expected to have up to 35 people employed by the end of two years.
There are presently only five, he said.
"We're hoping that number will go up in time. Since we're only open a couple days a week, we've not been able to build out the team the way we normally would have."
In an effort to build business, Columbia Care officials are in the process of participating in education forums with physicians and regional medical centers.
The goal is to ensure that people understand what the program is about and what it can offer in terms of symptom relief for those with one of the qualifying illnesses.
NO DOCTORS LIST
The company's experience in Plattsburgh mirrors that in some other regions of the state.
According to the New York State Department of Health, as of Jan. 21, 265 physicians were certified to prescribe medical marijuana and 295 patients approved to receive it.
Those numbers had increased to 593 doctors and 4,688 patients as of June 9 and to 639 physicians and 5,966 patients as of July 26.
One common complaint identified in a report issued by the New York City-based Drug Policy Alliance in June has been the Health Department's refusal to provide a list of the doctors who can prescribe medical marijuana to those seeking treatment.
At present, only other physicians are able to search the list of providers.
Vita said the state is in a tough position on that issue, as some doctors are comfortable in putting that information out and others are not.
"My suspicion is that, over time, you'll see a very smart solution introduced to address that concern," he said.
WANTS HOME DELIVERY
Vita said another issue that has arisen is bridging the communication gap between primary-care physicians and those approved by the state to prescribe. That process is taking some time to develop.
Even so, Vita said, they've seen more doctors register in the state of New York than, at the same point in time, most of the other states where Columbia Care has a presence.
Those states are Arizona, California, Illinois and Massachusetts, as well as Washington, D.C.
The company has more customers at its other New York dispensaries, but those are in more urban areas: Manhattan, Rochester and Riverhead on Long Island.
At those locations, particularly in Manhattan, patients can walk or take public transportation to the dispensary.
That ties in with another issue identified in the Drug Policy Alliance report. Because only five producers were approved, each with up to four dispensaries, many patients are forced to travel great distances to seek access, especially in rural areas of the state.
Vita said Columbia Care would like to see the state allow home delivery to certified patients. That would really ease access concerns and open the program to people who are homebound or don't have access to transportation," Vita said.
"I think that really becomes relevant in an area like Plattsburgh. I think that would really enhance the access and adoption."
'PREPARED FOR GROWTH'
While Columbia Care is not part of the discussion, Vita believes there are conversations going on at the state level as to changes. If the program is viewed by state officials as a success, which he thinks it should be, the push to expand it will likely increase.
"We built the facility with the expectation that we would have a fairly robust patient population to serve and a fairly robust medical community to serve," Vita said.
"The timelines of when that growth occurs is not as predictable as one might think. We're prepared for that growth, and we look forward to it happening, and invariably we believe that it will."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Business Slowly Growing
Author: Dan Heath
Contact: (518) 561-2300
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Press Republican
